Masterpieces of the floral nature were on display during this weekend's Art in Bloom at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts.

The annual event features floral arrangements by members of regional garden clubs, said Wallace Lee, the museum's director of development.

"It's a way to bring garden clubs throughout the area together," Lee said.

Lee said 25 garden clubs from as far away as eastern Maryland created floral arrangements to put on display. The participants were given a work of art that already was on display in the museum and told to interpret it through a floral arrangement.

In many cases, the floral recreations were abstract compared to the paintings they were supposed to mimic. In other cases, the imitations resembled the art in a more literal sense.

Hagerstown resident Charlotte Seibert said she and her friends have been coming to Art in Bloom for the last five years. She said the event is a good way to bring people to the museum to show what it has to offer.

"They look at every single painting in the gallery," she said. "It makes them realize what is here."

Nancy Chase of the Crossroads Garden Club in Hagerstown said she and two other members of the club were chosen to recreate a painting of a "snowy owl."

Chase said she and Crossroads members, Norma Sayles and Linda Kronstadt, spent about two weeks putting together a plan and executed it on Thursday night. They spent about 45 minutes refining their work of art on Friday, when Art in Bloom began.

"It was a learning experience," Chase said. "That's one of the reasons I did it."

Lee said the participants were given a work to recreate in February. There was not a fee to enter a floral arrangement in Art in Bloom, and no winner will be chosen, he said.

"Nothing is judged," he said. "It's just a fun event. Everyone has fun."

Lee said a fundraiser was held at the museum on Friday to kick off Art in Bloom. The event raised about $13,000, he said. That money will be used to support the museum.